The report lists Australian public and foreign-owned corporate tax entities with a total income of $100 million or more and Australian-owned resident private companies with a total income of $200 million or more.

In this year's list there were 2159 companies and the total amount of tax paid was $45.7 billion.

Some of the nil payments can be explained by losses such as the one suffered by Dimension Data during the reported period.

Even though the company reported revenue of $1.2 billion, it closed 2017 with a $16.5 million loss after tax. As previously reported, the company received a tax benefit amounted to $5.3 million in 2017.

A Vodafone spokesperson explained that for the financial year ended 31 December, 2016, its total cash contribution to government was $242 million, including $88 million direct tax contributions and spectrum licence payments.

"Corporate tax is calculated based on profits, not revenue, and is only a small part of the tax contribution for any business. There are also numerous ways other than tax used by government to collect revenue from business activities, with significant revenue raised from telecommunications companies via spectrum auctions and spectrum licence payments," said the spokesperson.

"We also make a significant contribution to the Australian economy by employing approximately 2,500 staff, and investing heavily in our mobile network which is relied upon by approximately 6 million Australians.

"Over the years, due to a combination of high operating and capital costs, VHA has not made any profit on its activity. As a result, no corporate tax was due or payable in the year ended 31 December 2016."

A DXC spokesperson told ARN the the company "meets all its tax obligations and there are many contributing factors to the tax payable in any given year".

DXC had an income of $1.4 billion with a taxable income of $1.2 million.

The ATO has created the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law (MAAL) as part of the government's efforts to combat tax avoidance by multinational companies operating in Australia. The MAAL has been established to ensure that multinationals pay their fair share of tax on the profits earned in Australia.

The Government has carried inquiries into companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Google, over their tax practices in Australia dating back to at least 2012.

The tax transparency report showed those companies being watched have met the 30 per cent rate.

Google, who reported an income of $1.7 billion, had a taxable income of $177 million paying $33.1 million in taxes. Only two years ago, Google had reported taxable income of $106.1 million, but paid $12.2 million in taxes.

Microsoft reached a new tax arrangement with the ATO on the same day it fronted up the public hearing for the Government's inquiry into Corporate Tax Avoidance on 22 August. In the 2017 financial year the software giant had a taxable income of $178 million and paid $53 million in taxes.

Apple, who generated $8 billion, had a taxable income of $271 million and paid $81 million in taxes.

SAP had an income of $907 million but no taxable income and therefore paid no taxes for the period. A spokesperson for the company told ARN that revenue generated by SAP Australia "is recorded locally and brought to tax in Australia".

Copyright 2019 IDG Communications. ABN 14 001 592 650. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of IDG Communications is prohibited.